Saturday, March 24, 2012

Kelli pushed through the double doors with Eric on her heels. She glanced over at the Lieutenant’s office, saw it empty, and pushed through the swinging gate. “Hey, Marco, where’s your boss?”

Marco looked up from his paperwork, an annoyed look on his face. “Hell if I know. He ain’t been in all morning. Probably chasing after that kid of his. What you need, Detective?”

“Has he briefed you guys on an op I’m planning?” She looked around the Squad room at the other Detectives. The man she only knew as Vincente was leaning back in his chair, eyes closed, and she thought she heard him snore.

Marco stood up and walked over to her. He looked at Eric, then back at Kelli. “Did he know you were dropping by today?”

“No, and you didn’t answer my question,” she said, not hiding her impatience. “Did he brief you guys or not?”

Marco turned and walked back to his desk. “As a matter of fact, no, the Lieutenant ain’t briefed us on no operation,” he said, waving his arm around the room.

Kelli looked at Eric, frowned, then back at Marco. “So how’d you guys like to help me take down the DDP and Trinitarios?”

Marco gave her a puzzled look. “What are you talking about? Shit, we’ve been trying to get these shits off the streets for years. They’re too fucking smart.”

“Come on, these fuckers aren’t that smart. Shit, I took Angelo Diaz off the streets. So how are these guys any smarter than us?”

“They’ve got kids running the shit for them. We bust the kids, they go to juvie and the gangs just find more kids to replace them. We try to turn the kids, get them to give up the dealers, but no deal. They’re either too scared or they put on a tough act, like they don’t give a shit. Hell, they know they’ll be out in a few months and back to running.”

“So, we watch the kids and see where they’re getting the stuff, then bust the dealers.”

Marco snorted. “Like we haven’t thought of that. I’m tellin’ you, these fuckers are smart. Shit, we’ve been trying to get someone inside for months, so has Narco, and no dice.”

“Yeah, last time Narco had a guy on inside the Trinitarios, they found him floating in the East River,” Vincente chimed in.

Kelli looked at him, then back at Marco. “We’re not going inside. We’re going to take them down from the outside, one at a time if necessary. We get enough of them off the street, and Miguel Garcia will notice.”

“Wait a minute. This isn’t just about getting the drugs off the street, is it? You want the big boss. So just what the fuck is going on here?”

She looked around the Squad Room. Now all six of the Detectives were leaning forward, their eyes on her. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay, here’s the deal. Earlier this year I killed the cousin of Miguel Garcia, and he’s been trying to kill me since then. His men killed my last partner and his wife, and kidnapped my mother.”

Marco sat on the edge of his desk, glanced around the room, and back at Kelli. “So the guy’s a real psycho, I get that, and I get why you want to bring him down. The question is, how’re you planning on doing that?”